(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a dynamic air tire pressure system. In particular, systems and methods are disclosed herein that dynamically adjust the pressure of a tire based on a determined state of the vehicle.
(b) Background Art
Tire pressure in a vehicle can affect a number of different aspects of the operation of a vehicle. First, uneven tire pressures in a vehicle can lead to uneven and premature wear of the vehicle's tires. Second, the ride experienced by the passengers of the vehicle is often affected by tire pressure. For example, a lower tire pressure increases the “footprint” of the vehicle, which may be desirable when traversing certain types of terrain, allowing the vehicle to better “grip” the terrain. Third, the fuel economy of the vehicle may be impacted by the vehicle's tire pressure, since the amount of friction between the vehicle's tires and the road is a function of the vehicle's tire pressure.
Because of the various effects that the tire pressure of a vehicle can have on the vehicle, many automotive manufacturers specify suggested tire pressures. Vehicle owners are then encouraged to periodically measure their tire pressures and to adjust the pressures, if necessary (e.g., by using an air compressor at a gas station). To ensure that vehicle owners comply with these recommendations, some modern vehicles are equipped with tire pressure sensor systems that monitor the pressure of the vehicle's tires. If the tire pressure is outside of the manufacturer's recommended range, the system may alert the driver by illuminating a dashboard light. In some cases, a vehicle may even be equipped with an air compressor that automatically adjusts the vehicle's tire pressure to the manufacturer's recommended pressure range. However, such systems typically take a blind approach to adjusting a vehicle's tire pressures and fail to account for varying factors other than the vehicle's current tire pressures.
In order to solve the problems in the related art, there is a demand for the development of a tire air pressure system that dynamically adjusts the individual tire pressures of a vehicle according to a detected state of the vehicle.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.